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Re-Use Makes Sense

Shipping containers are hidden treasures available cheaply in the junkyards of most cities on Earth, and we've only just begun to explore the many ways we can convert them into safe, comfortable, and even lovely housing.

Adobe House

Only in the past few decades have we figured out how to also make adobe and its cousins like rammed earth, cob and compressed earth block to be safe in earthquakes. Working with colleagues from all over the world, EBNet Director Bruce King wrote the defining standard, ASTM E2392, making it easier to get approval for building with earth.

Aquatic Center

Modern chemistry allows us to build with all sorts of new polymers, such as this iconic wall of the Olympic Swim Center in Bejing. But we are only beginning to understand the effects of those chemicals - on the environment during their manufacture, and on our bodies when we make, build and live with them.

Columbage

This is the columbage style of architecture in Haiti, which occurs in various forms all over the world. Braced timber frames with masonry infill look terrible to structural engineers, but consistently perform surprisingly well in earthquakes.

Concrete Blocks

Bad masonry construction all over the world bakes people in summer, freezes them in winter, and kills them outright in earthquakes. By spreading just a little of the right knowledge, we can make block construction less expensive, more thermally comfortable, and safer.

Concrete Labor

Building always requires hard work by someone, somewhere - even prefab. Smart design involves knowing who's doing the work, and where, and understanding both the value and cost of that labor to your project, to you budget, and to the community.

Container House

Shipping containers are hidden treasures available cheaply in the junkyards of most cities on Earth, and we've only just begun to explore the many ways we can convert them into safe, comfortable, and even lovely housing.

Lumber

A pile of wood in Haiti, where almost all lumber is imported because their forests were long ago razed for fuel and building. Material choices for your project often have effects far away in time and/or distance. In this modern age of extreme connectivity, we can't pretend we don't see the effects of our choices.

Masonry

Stone masonry is one of the oldest and most popular ways of building in much of the world: this picture is of a 2100 year old Roman wall in Algeria. Only in the past few decades have we figured out how to also make them earthquake safe. Working with colleagues from all over the world, Bruce King wrote the defining standard for seismic safety of walls like this, ASTM E2392

Pantheon

The Pantheon and dozens of other Roman structures lasted very well for 2000 years, but modern concrete structures won't generally last more than a hundred. Have we forgotten something?

Real Goods

Passive solar design is not that difficult, and is the gift that keeps on giving. This is the Real Goods Solar Living Center in Hopland, California - an early solar project using straw bales, fly ash concrete, and FSC-certified wood that keeps itself cool in summer and warm in winter with almost no heating or cooling equipment.

Roofing Systems

What's the "greenest" roofing system? The answer always depends on many things, but from Port-au-Prince to Palo Alto, the answer is very often, metal.

Skyscraper

Tall buildings are an inevitibility in cities, and to date, can only be made with high-strength structure: steel and concrete. But how tall is tall enough? Bamboo, timber, earth, and stone masonry can reach above six or seven stories, which is also a practical limit to human habitation without elevators. Is the scale of ancient Rome, Paris, Baghdad, Delhi, Tokyo, and Bejing, the appropriate scale for ecocities for the future?

Starchitecture

Eye-catching sculptures of steel and glass regularly get publicity and win prestigious architectural awards. But are they good buildings? They stimulate without inspiring, they dazzle but often don't function, and they usually leak. We don't mean to single out Frank Gehry, architect of this structure, nor even the entire class of "starchitects" who dominate the public's attention. The criticism is really pointed at the starry-eyed public held in rapture, and the decision makers who consistently choose glamour over substance for the design of major buildings. EBNet actively works with people all over the world to identify and promote sustainable and effective use of building materials.

Straw Bale Fire Test

When building officials kept asking if straw bale walls are fire resistant, EBNet conducted the tests to find out. They are. As a result of this research, straw bale has gained more acceptance throughout the world.

Straw Bales

Build it with bales! Straw bale construction had its origins on the plains of Nebraska 140 years ago. Now it has spread to every country on Earth entirely on its own merits, just like those two other great American inventions, democracy and jazz. Research and testing conducted in 2002 by the Ecological Building Network underlies modern design, and is presented in "Design of Straw Bale Buildings" available for download here.

Tile

"Green" doesn't mean funky. Some of the coolest and loveliest materials, such as this locally-produced San Francisco area tile in a high-end home, are simple, non-toxic, and often inexpensive.

Wood Certification

There are competing systems for "certifying" wood as being environmentally responsible, but only FSC (The Forest Stewardship Council) stands out as independent and widely respected.

Wood Joint

We think of wood as one of the most lovely and versatile of building materials - which it is! But if you tried to introduce it brand new into today's construction world, you'd have a very tough job. Wood shrinks, rots, and burns easily. Its strength and other properties vary with grain, temperature, moisture levels, age, species, and more. Bugs like to eat it, a lot. It's a terrible building material, but we love it and learned how to work effectively with it. We can do the same with clay, straw, discarded tires, metal, and plastic, bamboo, and anything else we set our minds to.

BuildWell Source

The BuildWell Source is a cooperative compilation of useful information on all aspects of building well - that is, building with a mind towards low-carbon and non-toxic effects.

Those looking for how to work with alternative materials, or design for net zero, or find better materials to spec for their projects can search here. If you have such useful information, we invite you to upload it.

Contact Us

Support EBNet

Ecological Building Network is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. We depend on contributions from the public to build and maintain our programs. If you have gotten value from visiting our site/s, please make a donation to ensure we can continue to provide this service.